Why we need to challenge standard work practices and prioritize well-being
Wellness and self-care are really important to me. I’m super intentional about moving my body, nourishing myself with foods that make me feel good, and blocking out time for rest in my calendar, especially during busy times.
I know how privileged I am to be able to take care of myself and focus on my well-being. I have a job that allows me to do what I need to do each day to be at my best—and so does everyone on my team. But that didn’t just happen. It’s taken us years to step away from the traditional 9-to-5 framework and create work schedules that work best with our lives. And I wish the rest of the working world would do the same.
To me, it makes no sense that American work culture has clung to the idea that being on the clock eight hours per day, five days per week, from about 9 in the morning to 5 in the evening is the best possible way to work. Maybe for some people and some professions it is, but for most of us, it’s just something we’ve learned to accept.
I believe that the way we work isn’t set up to enhance or promote our well-being. Those “eight hours” we’re supposed to spend on work end up being more like 10 or 12 hours once you factor in time for getting ready and commuting. And if we’re supposed to be getting 7-9 hours of sleep every night, and eat well, and care for loved ones, and maintain a home . . . I mean, who has the time?!
In today’s post, I want to talk about where the status quo has gotten us and what we can do about it in our organizations. Because, you see, I don’t think it has to be like this. In fact, I know it doesn’t because our team left behind the 9-to-5 long ago. I believe there’s a better way—and fortunately, I’m far from the only CEO to think so.
First, let’s talk about that arbitrary 9-to-5 workday. It came about for a very good reason about 100 years ago: Henry Ford is credited with rolling it out on the assembly lines in his factory. Jack Kelly wrote about this in a Forbes article a couple years ago, and as he explains, this schedule was a very important step forward for laborers. The implementation of the 9-to-5, five-days-per-week schedule kept people from working up to 100 hours a week and ensured that they had days off. But since then, the nature of work has shifted dramatically. The majority of people aren’t working in factories and doing the same mind-numbing tasks over and over again all day in order to meet production quotas. Most of us have jobs—myself and my team included—that involve sitting down and staring at screens. And we know for a fact that sitting for eight-plus hours straight can be bad for you if you don’t also exercise.
And that leads me to my first red flag: Between commuting, working, caring for and spending time with loved ones, eating well, and managing a household, the only way some of us can add in exercise is to sacrifice sleep—and that’s a big problem.
Monique, our Chief of Growth, recently read a book called Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker and shared some takeaways with our team. In the book, Walker describes many business practices that don’t serve the well-being of our team members, including the 9-to-5 workday. He talks about how each of us has a chronotype, which is largely influenced by genetics, that determines whether we are “morning larks'' or “night owls.” According to Walker, only 40% of the population reaches peak wakefulness in the morning. Thirty percent of people are more energized in the evening (night owls), and another 30% fall somewhere in between. Walker says that the 9-to-5 schedule puts night owls at a disadvantage and favors people who are more energized in the morning. Doesn’t seem fair, does it?
But of course, sleep isn’t just about energy; it’s about so, so much more. Here are a few more takeaways from Why We Sleep:
Two-thirds of adults throughout all developed nations fail to obtain the recommended eight hours of nightly sleep.
A study across four large US companies found that insufficient sleep cost almost $2,000 per employee per year in lost productivity.
Creativity, intelligence, motivation, effort, efficiency, effectiveness when working in groups, as well as emotional stability, sociability, and honesty. All of these things are systematically dismantled by insufficient sleep.
Sleep-deprived individuals also generate fewer and less accurate solutions to work-relevant problems they are challenged with.
And here’s the kicker: Walker says that human beings are the only species that will deliberately deprive themselves of sleep without legitimate gain. Yikes! So again, I say: It doesn’t have to be this way.
On our team, each person is empowered to work the schedule that’s best for them. Everyone is salaried, and we don’t require anyone to work a specific number of hours or a certain number of days per week. In short: We don’t force people to work in ways they don’t want to. Setting our own schedules means that each of us has more control over when and how long we sleep, and we can also choose to work when our energy is at its best throughout the day or night. And, of course, it allows us to structure our lives so that we can maximize our ability to take care of ourselves. Need a midmorning gym session to beat the 2:30 p.m. blues? Go for it! Had a late night and want to sleep in an extra hour or two? Fine! Our attitude is do what you’ve got to do for you.
Obviously, there are some compromises. We ask that everyone block out time for weekly meetings, company programs, and team retreats on their calendars, and we are each expected to show up for those, barring some personal catastrophe. But we try to schedule these things only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays so that people can take off Fridays or Mondays as they wish. We also have an understanding that we are expected to complete whatever work we need to do to keep the business on track to meet our goals each week. For example, if we want to take time off right before a really busy week, we need to make sure we have everything wrapped up on our end beforehand. But as someone on our team put it, it’s easy to say “yes” to these constraints because we have so much flexibility in return.
I know what you might be thinking: It’s easy for me to talk about flexible scheduling as the leader of a four-person, all-remote team. But I also know that I’m not the only one who is trying to offer people more flexibility at work so that they can take care of themselves. More and more companies are looking critically at the way we work and starting to challenge the status quo—thanks, in large part, to the great experiment in remote work that the pandemic forced us into. Thirty-three companies recently completed an experiment with a four-day workweek with no reduction in salary, and the results are telling: The employees in the study said they valued the four-day workweek the same as a 25% increase in pay; 37% of the companies in the study showed an increase in revenue from the same time period in 2021 (with all employees working four days/week); employees showed lower levels of stress, anxiety, and burnout, while reporting an increase in work ability, job satisfaction, physical/mental health, and work/life balance. Eighteen of those companies have already decided to make the four-day workweek permanent, and seven more would like to but haven’t yet committed. (You can download the full report here.)
Experiments like these are happening more and more frequently, and personally, I think it’s about dang time. I wish it hadn’t taken a global pandemic for leaders and organizations the world over to realize that it’s critical for them to consider the well-being of their people, but at least it’s starting to happen. I believe that how we’re doing outside of work is just as important as how we’re doing at work. It’s all connected.
If your organization is still clinging to the 40-hour, 9-to-5, in-person workweek and you like it that way . . . great! I love that for you, truly. But if you don’t like it that way, I have some suggestions for creating a more flexible, supportive work environment.
Workdays and hours: One size cannot fit all. Personally, I don’t want to work only four days per week. I would rather work fewer hours in a day and spread out my workload over five days. But that’s just me! And I know that what’s best for me as a leader is not necessarily what’s best for my team. That’s why I create the space for each person to speak up about what they need, which includes when and how long they work. How can you do that on your team? What if, instead of sticking to set working hours, people chose when they wanted to work and created schedules that helped them be at their best?
Meetings: When it comes to meetings, is your team thinking about the times that best suit everyone? For example, if you have a remote team where people are working in several time zones, have you asked the people in different time zones when they prefer to work? If they need a different schedule, is it possible for them to do most of their work asynchronously and check in at set times? Consider starting a conversation about the best time for meetings the next time you meet.
Flexibility: Even when they’re working remotely, people can feel obligated to sit at a desk all day. But that doesn’t mean they’re working consistently or performing at their best at all times. According to Why We Sleep, people’s cognition and focus go down by the hour. So how can you make sure you and your team have opportunities to stand up, take breaks, and give your eyes and brain rest throughout the day?
Make your schedule visible: If you’re a service business and you would like to adjust your hours, make your working hours visible on your website or social media. Collaborate with your team to make sure that people are available to help customers when customers need it most. And if you’re changing hours within your team, let your team know your new schedule. We’ve recently started posting our preferred hours on Slack to let each other know when we’ll be online. How could you do something similar?
Quality of work vs. hours worked: I can understand why leaders might be hesitant to allow people to reduce their total number of hours worked. It’s easy to think that the number of hours worked = a certain amount of revenue. But when we work fewer hours, we can be more productive and more focused than if we work for a long period of time. So what if, as leaders, we looked at productivity as deliverables and results instead of hours worked? What if you gave people deadlines and let them get their work done however they need to, as long as it’s done by a certain day? What kind of systems for accountability can you set up to support this?
Again, I know that it’s harder for people who work for large organizations to have conversations about how our workplaces can better support our well-being. But I don’t think it’s impossible. Start with the people you work closest to: How can you support each other? Can you schedule your meetings for later in the day? Can you add set break times and end times for work, even if you’re remote? Can you make sure you don’t schedule meetings at school pick-up or drop-off time?
If you’re an employer, you might be thinking that it feels like no one is thinking about your needs and what you need to do to sustain your organization. But here’s the thing: As a leader, your needs are just as important as everyone else’s. Make sure you benefit from flexible work policies, too! And you don’t have to make every single change I’ve mentioned here. Start by getting curious about what your people need and experiment. You might find that more flexibility is exactly what you needed!
One last thought I want to leave you with: If we just accept the status quo, we’re going to keep doing something that doesn’t work. The Great Resignation, quiet quitting, career cushioning, etc., are just symptoms of leaders and organizations not wanting to make the hard decisions they need to make in order to try new things. But as studies are starting to show, those new things are helping us: They are teaching us how to achieve results while also taking care of ourselves and each other. Instead of waiting for this to be the new norm, why not get curious and start taking steps toward building a better world at work? The future depends on the steps we take today!
Big hugs,
